In the past, computer display devices, such as monitors used on desktops and consoles, typically had rectangular displays or screens which were oriented with the longer sides of the rectangle at the top and the bottom of the display. In graphics or word processing applications designed for output on a rectangular sheet, such as a letter or A-4 size sheet of paper, the terms "portrait" and "landscape" are commonly used to refer to the orientation of the image on the page. In the portrait mode, the shorter sides of the paper are at the top and the bottom of the image, whereas for landscape mode, the longer sides are at the top and the bottom. These terms portrait and landscape are also used herein to denote the orientation of a rectangular display screen.
In the past, the majority of display devices have been orientated in the landscape mode, typically on fixed screens mounted on consoles, desktop monitors and the like. As consumer demands for more portable devices are being met, the majority of notebook computers, laptop computers, and the smaller palmtop devices incorporate a keyboard attached to a landscape oriented screen. These portable computers are basically rectangular clam-shell devices, having a lower half carrying a keyboard hinged to an upper half that carries the display screen. The rectangular shape is easily transported, and the rectangular orientation of the keyboard allows for easy adaptation from conventional desktop keyboards.
Many graphical computer interfaces are being used in an effort to match more closely the established habits of humans when they communicate with writing. In the most natural and intuitive of these interfaces, a human user "writes" with a stylus on the surface of a computer-driven display, entering handwriting, sketching a diagram or picture, pressing a "button", etc. What actually happens, of course, is that the user stimulates a digitizer or touch-sensitive panel, co-located with the display, and the digitizer signals the position of the stylus to the computer. The computer then responds appropriately, driving the display to reproduce the path of the stylus (thus making an image of the handwriting or picture) or to signal that the button has been pressed. In this way, the stylus/digitizer/display combination becomes a close metaphor to the common pencil and paper tablet or notepad that nearly everyone uses.
One such handheld notepad device made by the Apple Computer Company, is known as the "Newton." The Newton device has only a minimal keyboard, and recognizes user inputs from a stylus, which is used to activate digitized areas on the screen. Indeed, the Newton product can be programmed to recognize a user's handwriting. The Newton device has a rectangular display screen, which is in a portrait orientation, in contrast with the landscape orientation of the hinged devices.
Some of the hinged portable computers, as well as the Newton notepad device, typically have one or more icons located around the periphery of the display. For the landscape displays, icons are oriented to be viewed in a landscape mode, whereas for the portrait display of the Newton notepad, the icons are positioned for viewing in a portrait mode. These icons are indicia, or symbols indicating either an application or program, or a specific command within a program. For example, the icon to delete a file may appear as a trash can, whereas to activate the save function of a program, the icon may be an image of a computer disk. Icons may be activated by placing the cursor over the icon and then pressing the enter key, or by using a mouse-type locator device, then keyclicking one of the mouse buttons. Using a wand-sensitive device, such as a digitized screen on the Newton notepad, the wand is pressed on the screen over the icon to activate the particular application or function. Instead of a wand, some display devices are sensitive to the touch of a finger to activate the icon's function.
It would be particularly convenient to incorporate the features of the handheld keyboard computer with those of a handheld notepad computer into a single device. In such a device, it would also be desirable for the display screen to be in a landscape mode when used as a palmtop keyboard or typing device, and in a portrait mode when used as a notepad device. There is also a need for such a device to readily interpret inputs from the touch-activated display and/or the keyboard.